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Workbook A Communication PDF
Workbook A Communication PDF
CREATING A
COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Most organizations that are conducting market research to guide their OST planning will
have limited resources, both in terms of the amount of time and money they can spend
on the process. Developing a strategic communications plan will help you make the
most of your resources by establishing priorities and focusing on the most important
tasks. Expect to learn a lot in developing your communication plan: you will clarify
your objectives and zero in on your target audience. Furthermore, a solid
communications plan will help ensure that everyone involved in your OST initiative is
“on the same page” when they are communicating about the project with the rest of the
world.
The steps involved in developing a communications plan are basically the same
regardless of what stage of the research process you are in. In this workbook, we will
focus on the first point, the beginning of the research process. At the conclusion of this
workbook, we have included information about considerations for your communications
plan at the end of your research process.
5. Developing Materials
(Descriptions of materials you may want to develop to convey your messages to your audiences.)
6. Specifying A Timeline
(We present a recommended timeline to follow, coordinating your research and your communication plan.)
The five steps involved in creating a communications plan are: (1) establishing
goals; (2) defining key audiences; (3) identifying key messages; (4) creating a tactical
outreach plan; and (5) specifying a timeline for moving forward. We will discuss each of
these steps in turn.
The first step to producing a successful communications plan is to establish a set
of clear and measurable goals. These goals highlight the desired outcome of promoting
the OST research initiative and are not the same as the defined expectations for the
program itself.
When you begin your OST research planning process, the objective of the
communications plan is to engage important stakeholders’ participation in
the design and execution of a market research study.
As you complete the planning process, the objective of the communications
plan shifts toward informing stakeholders of the results of the market
research and setting the stage for broad community support for the OST
programs you have come up with in response to the market research.
For example, the goal for your initial communications plan could be, “Educate
90% of the stakeholders we’ve identified in our community about the OST planning
process and OST programs we are considering.” Another goal might be to convert 70%
of the stakeholders you have educated through various media into public advocates of the
survey or whatever other market research process you engage in—or simply to “generate
public support for the market research, ultimately leading to increased participation in the
creation of OST programs.”
Once the goals for your communications plan have been set, the strategies, the
audience and the communications tactics will all be designed to help you meet these
goals. If tactics are suggested that do not ultimately map back to your predefined goals,
consider whether they will be worth the time and effort it will take to implement them.
Once you have defined your communications goals and the audiences you are
trying to reach, the strategies you select will define how you are going to communicate to
your audience. To create effective strategies, it is important to understand where and
how your targeted audiences seek and receive information. For example, if you are
having difficulty reaching the Mayor, does the Mayor have an assistant or issue
researcher that is easier to contact? For reaching the community, some communities rely
on regularly scheduled social and faith-based gatherings for word-of-mouth
communication exchanges; these can be a good place to get your message across to
parents, representatives from cultural and ethnic groups or faith-based organizations, or
other stakeholders. Other stakeholders, such as recent immigrants, may be faced with
language barriers and use cultural and/or community newspapers or bulletins as their
preferred channels of communication.
Leverage the media to provide editorial coverage of the issue and the ongoing
programs
Use key influencers to help deliver the messages, through community forums,
media opportunities and organized events
Create direct mail pieces that can be distributed to your target audiences
Use local businesses that reach the community to help deliver messages
Each strategy should map back to your goals and objectives, ultimately resulting
in greater awareness, support and participation in the OST planning process and the
marketing research study.
Key messages are basically the messages you want your targeted audiences to see or
hear. There are a lot of ways you can communicate about the same thing. For
example, think about these two different ways you could communicate about a common
topic, the weather. One person remarks, “At least it finally stopped raining.” Another
says, “What a beautiful day; it’s wonderful to see the sun!” Both of these are equally
true and appropriate ways to communicate about a day without rain, but they convey very
different things about both the weather and the speaker. When you identify your key
message, you are planning what you wish to communicate to your key audience about
your OST initiative, your research process, your organization, and your mission.
In developing the key messages for your communications plan, you need to know
what issues are important to your key audiences. Think about your goals at this point
in your research process: at this point, your primary goal is to increase stakeholder
participation in designing and implementing a market research study. To do that, you
need to figure out what issues will drive interest in the research. What will resonate with
them? What will help you obtain their support? What is your “hook?”
A good way to start is to identify likely strong supporters of OST programs and
ask those people what they are most concerned about with respect to kids’ out-of-
school experiences.
Have a limited number of messages you are trying to deliver. If you try to deliver
more than three messages in your communications materials, they will lose focus,
and ultimately your audience will walk away without hearing any of the messages.
Each message should be concise – no more than 15-20 words. If you can’t fit your
message on a bumper sticker, it is not yet focused enough.
Make each message compelling; the greater the impact/import, the stronger the
audience response will be.
Each message should have a fundamental statement – the one thing you want your
audience to know or understand about the OST Market Research Survey.
The fundamental statement should be backed up by two to four key support points,
including easily understood facts and figures.
Finally, you can supplement these facts and figures with examples – such as an
individual who has benefited from OST programs in the past.
“The right OST programs can help students achieve significant academic progress.”
More than XX percent of local students who participate in OST programs
graduate from high school.
Students who participate in OST programs have been shown to be more
disciplined than students who are not involved in structured activities when not in
school.
“Students and parents will participate in OST programs
if those programs fit their needs.”
Research shows that the most important issue with OST programs is a concern for
students’ safety.
Students look for the social aspects of OST programs.
If friends of a student are participating in OST programs, the student himself or
herself is also more likely to want to participate.
Hold an initial meeting with the advisory board to brief them on the plans for a
market research survey
Once your advisory board has been briefed, ask them to distribute materials
regarding the market research survey to their organizations
Ask your advisory board members to sign prewritten op-ed pieces and submit them
to the local newspaper
Ask your advisory board to host community forums to educate the public about the
OST market research survey
A briefing with the editorial board does not guarantee they will write about the
issue, however. More importantly, there is no guarantee they will support the issue. You
will therefore need to plan carefully and strategize for an editorial board meeting. For
the best chance of success with an editorial board meeting:
Understand the political bent of the editorial board prior to meeting with
them. This will become clear after reading a number of their opinions.
Know how they have sided on similar issues in the past.
Bring two to three people at most to an editorial board meeting. Make sure
these people are well-versed in both sides of the issue and can clearly
articulate the key messages and answer questions. An editorial board
meeting is a perfect time to involve an influential member from your advisory
board.
Provide the editorial board with materials that demonstrate the case in
support of OST programs and the research being conducted.
In hosting a community forum, make sure that the people you select to speak to
the audience are well-versed in the issue and articulate. A good format for such a
forum is a presentation followed by a Q&A (question and answer session). Keep the
presentation short, concise and on-message. You want to keep the audience engaged
and alert to participate in the Q&A that will follow.
Before you engage in a public discussion of OST programs and the market
research survey, it will be critical to garner the support of key influencers in the
community, including politicians, educators and ministers. The first step in garnering
this support is to arrange one-on-one meetings (also called “road shows”) with people
whose support will be important for engaging stakeholders. These people could include:
City councilors or town managers
Mayor or Chair of the Board of Selectmen
Superintendent of Schools
Local Ministers
Heads of neighborhood organizations
Head of the local PTO/PTA
Head of local ethnic organizations
Make sure to meet with anyone who is involved in OST programs or education
initiatives. These are people who could be called by the media for their reaction, and it’s
important that they are briefed before they receive such phone calls.
In this section, we will provide brief descriptions of a variety of materials that you
may want to develop as part of your tactical outreach plan. Some of these materials, such
as a press kit, are necessary for you to have a solid communications plan. Many of these
materials can be produced affordably and easily using internal resources. For example,
someone in your OST Research Task Force with good writing skills can write a press
release, op-ed article, or letter to the editor. Other materials (such as background videos)
may be more expensive or challenging to produce using internal resources and may not
be necessary, depending on your community’s particular communications plan.
You do not need to develop each of these materials to have a good media
relations program. Use the goals you identified at the beginning of your
communications planning to help you determine which materials will do the best job at
meeting those goals while making the most of your resources.
Press Kits
A press kit is the foundation of a media relations program. It consists of all the
information about your issue, usually placed in a folder branded with the name of your
campaign. The press kit should be organized in a manner that is easy for the news media
to use. Samples of a fact sheet and a press advisory that were created for a fictitious
community are included on the CD of prototype materials included with this guide..
Newsworthy information.
Clear dissemination of information and an understanding of why this
information is important.
One or two paragraphs at the beginning about the survey followed with an
identification of those who are spearheading the initiative.
The first two sentences of your release are the most important. Make sure
they are strong and clear.
Keep to the facts.
Provide contact information for the organization, including name, phone,
email, fax and website address
Trends Release: This release should be about trends in OST programs and why
it is critical to create OST programs that have high levels of participation. A trend
release doesn’t revolve around a specific announcement. Rather, it is timeless—or at
least has a long shelf-life. These releases should provide enough facts and figures about
OST programs to spark interest on the part of the reporter.
Byline Articles
A byline article is similar to an op-ed in that it is signed by a prominent person
who has credibility in their field. Not necessarily an opinion piece, it can offer the
facts and figures about OST programs. Many trade journals and community newspapers
will run bylined articles. They often book up in advance, however. Call the editor of the
publication and find out if they accept bylined articles and if so, what the guidelines are.
Many of them will tell you to submit an abstract of the article in advance and if
approved, they will then ask you to submit the entire article. Once published, reprints of
the article can then be distributed in your press kit and in packets of information offered
at community group meetings. They can also be placed on your website.
Creating a newsletter that can be distributed to the target audiences is one way to
communicate with your audience on a regular basis. Either by email or postal mail, a
newsletter is delivered directly to your target audience, without the filters put on a story
by a third party. Newsletters can also be sent to nonprofit organizations or business
associations that have an interest in OST programs.
For radio, PSAs can be either live copy that is read by the DJ or pre-recorded
spots, if you have the budget to produce them.
For television, PSAs should be pre-recorded in the format used by the
television station.
Despite the limitations of minimal prime time airtime, PSAs are still an effective
tool to impart key message points and extend the reach of message. Samples PSAs are
included on the CD of prototype materials included with this guide.
When you have completed your market research, it is critical that you use the
research results to continue to engage your key stakeholders. The elements of a tactical
outreach plan for communicating market research results are similar in many respects to
those we have just discussed in this workbook. In this section, we provide information
about how to tailor your communications plan for this stage in your OST market research
process.
Most of the media contacts you developed during the initial planning will still be
relevant when communicating the results of your OST program market research. Use this
time to update your lists, adding any additional reporters with whom you built
relationships during Phase I.
Your advisory board is a critical ally as you begin to unveil the results of the
survey. These individuals can be used as spokespeople for the media and at community
forums as well as to their own constituency. They must be briefed on the results of the
survey as soon as possible. They will be on the frontline of the presentation and it is
critical they have a clear understanding of the results and the key messages that are being
delivered.
Once your advisory board has been briefed, ask them to distribute materials
regarding the market research survey to their organizations. They may also be asked to
sign op-ed pieces, and participate in community forums and press briefings.
When you initially meet with the editorial board, ask them if you can come back
and meet with them prior to releasing the results of the survey. If so, schedule this
meeting in time to brief them on the results and garner editorial opinions on the day the
results are released.
If you cannot schedule a second meeting, make sure to send them a copy of the
results in advance, under embargo, to ensure they are well-briefed prior to the
announcement of the results.
Community forums will once again be very important, giving you the opportunity
to present the information directly to the target audience and hear their immediate
response. Prepare in advance so you understand what issues may be of concern to the
individual audiences you are meeting with. Spokespeople should be briefed on
potential issues and prepared to offer solutions in advance. As with your initial
community forums, a good format would be a short presentation on the results followed
by a Q&A.
Before you engage in a public discussion of the survey results, it will once again
be critical to pre-brief key influencers in the community, including politicians, educators
and religious leaders. The first step in garnering this support is to arrange one-on-one
meetings with a handful of individuals whose support can be helpful in influencing the
stakeholders. These people could include:
City councilors or town managers
Mayor or Chair of the Board of Selectmen
Superintendent of Schools
Local Ministers
Heads of neighborhood organizations
Head of the local PTO/PTA
Head of local ethnic organizations
A media advisory would be drafted and sent out to the media the day prior to the
press conference. At the conference, a few slides can be shown highlighting the results.
The media should also be provided with a complete set of the findings and
recommendations.
Talk to the op-editor prior to releasing the survey results. Let them know when
the results would be issued and determine if there is a possibility of getting an op-ed
placed on that day.
The op-ed should highlight the survey results and recommendations based
on the research.
The op-ed should be signed by a prominent person in the community and
should stick within the published guidelines.
If you cannot get an op-ed, consider writing another letter to the editor that
highlights the results of the study.
Newsletters
Release another issue of the newsletter the week the survey results are
announced. This will enable you to deliver the results directly to the target audience.
The newsletter could contain content such as:
A letter from the head of the organization recapping the reasons the survey
was conducted and what the results mean
Highlights of the results and recommendations
Details of the next steps for the initiative
Recent press comments
Your background video can be reissued to the TV stations in conjunction with the
announcement release.
; Press conference
; Placement of Op-Ed
; Placement of letter to the editor
The week results are released
; Community forum
; Road shows
; Newsletter